Influence Stage 4 (DC 35)

Defeat

Combat The influence of Gobogeg can be defeated by damage.

Dream Drought Every 24 hours that pass without a creature being affected by dreamwrack, there’s a 10% chance that the influence degrades by one stage; if this occurs at stage 1, Gobogeg’s influence is destroyed.

Influence Effects

Dreamwrack Once every 24 hours, Gobogeg’s influence targets a single sleeping creature within the area of its influence and infiltrates the creature’s dreams, creating horrific nightmares of mass extinctions and the end of the world. The victim must make a successful Will save or be affected as if by nightmare (CL 20th). The target of a dreamwrack is always a character who failed to resist a dreamwrack the previous night if possible; otherwise, the victim is randomly chosen. A victim who fails three saving throws against the dreamwrack effect gains an insanity and becomes convinced of the impending end of the world. Such victims generally become pawns of Gobogeg and serve to spread chaos and fear.

Earth Tremors At the start of each round, as Gobogeg’s influence moves via its burrow speed, all creatures within 40 feet of the influence’s nucleus must make a successful Reflex save or be knocked prone. The ground within a 100-foot radius around the center of the area of influence is always difficult terrain as a result of these constant tremors.

Elder Light Strange glowing lights manifest in the skies above the area of influence during the night. This creates dim light (akin to bright moonlight) throughout the region, which is profoundly unsettling to those within. All creatures within this light suffer a –4 penalty on all Will saving throws.

Fissures At the start of each round, a fissure opens in the ground at a point chosen by Gobogeg along the path of its burrowing movement. This fissure is 50 feet long, 10 feet wide, and 100 feet deep. It inflicts 20d6 points of damage to any structure in the area and destroys structures completely engulfed by the area. Creatures in the area can avoid falling into the fissure with a successful Reflex save. At the end of the round, the fissure closes violently, inflicting 20d6 points of bludgeoning damage to any creature still within the fissure and burying them underground.

Moon Ladder Upon reaching influence stage 4, Gobogeg becomes immobile as it fully manifests in reality, emerging from the ground at the center of its area of influence as a towering mass of earth and heaving flesh—an incarnation of the Great Old One known as the Moon Ladder. When the Moon Ladder manifests, it does so in a 15-foot-square space but towers 100 feet into the sky. The Moon Ladder becomes the influence’s proxy at this point, and damage must be inflicted directly to it rather than to any point in the area of influence. A beam of light spirals up and out of the creature into the heavens above and the ground surrounding Gobogeg in a 600-foot radius suffers the effects of a constant earthquake spell (CL 20th). In addition to earthquake dangers, any creature within this area must make a successful Reflex save at the start of its turn or be caught within a secondary beam of this light. If this occurs, the target must make a successful Will save or take 3d6 points of Charisma drain. A creature drained to 0 Charisma by this effect is instantly removed from existence (creatures killed in this way can only be restored to life via miracle, true resurrection, or wish). At the end of each round, there is a cumulative 1% chance that the Moon Ladder completes its task and wrenches out a massive portion of the world equal to the area of its current influence and hurls it into the heavens to create a new moon in the sky above. This ends Gobogeg’s influence, but devastates the planet itself and may cause an extinction-level event at the GM’s discretion.

Gobogeg is a not-yet-existing entity that becomes reality when properly summoned. At that time, it snakes forth from the body of the world, and becomes what is known as the “Elder Pharos” (its tall form looks like a lighthouse and it is a warning to all) as well as the “Moon-Ladder” (for it is about to cause the rupture and fission of the world). If Gobogeg is allowed to fester unchecked, the ultimate result is that the continent upon which Gobogeg formed will literally shatter forth from the world and spin off into space, forming a new moon. Gobogeg will then be the god of that new moon, leaving a devastated planet in its wake.

The Gobogeg Seed

When Gobogeg is evoked, it becomes a living sentient creature, but it is only a potentiality until then. It cannot be summoned just anywhere. The "Gobogeg seed" must already be present. (Earth has had at least two such seeds: one resulted in the Moon forming in the distant past from the Pacific basin, and the other will one day cause Antarctica's fission. Unknowable numbers of other planetary satellites could be the result of such a seed.)

The process of the rupture covers the entire surface of the planet with molten rock, exterminating all physical life. Gobogeg is therefore also called the God of the World’s End. Fortunately, Gobogeg manifests early in the process and can be noticed as it begins to take form. Though it may soon destroy the world (the time frame can be vary—it could take an hour, a week, or a year, depending on the situation), there is still time for adventurers to thwart Gobogeg before the process is complete.

Should Gobogeg ever be properly summoned, the final stage is for it to emerge from its prison with such force that its continent is blasted off of the planet to create a new moon. By this time, Gobogeg will be so massive and the power it exudes from its lidless eye so immense that it will be visible from light-years away. Gobogeg will then align the planet’s moon(s) and other nearby stars and planets to create a Moon Ladder. Gobogeg's primary purpose is to absorb enough energy from the planet and its inhabitants in order to forcibly align the celestial bodies, creating a cosmic key that will free other Great Old Ones and Outer Gods who are dormant.

The Legend of Gobogeg

The legend of Gobogeg is ancient, though this god itself under normal conditions does not exist. In ancient times, a cult of Gobogeg tried to invoke the God of the World’s End.

Anytime Gobogeg encounters and defeats something, it absorbs the life force, organic material, knowledge, and arcane ability (if any) from the defeated subject. The elder things realized that the mystic energies which would one day produce Gobogeg likewise absorbed the life energies of the planet and all who dwelt upon it. To stop this progression and delay Gobogeg’s appearance, the elder things brought about an age of perpetual winter so as to trap Gobogeg in the ice, mitigating the effect it has on the world. It waits there still in potentia.

Gobogeg’s few, mad, cultists have striven to record and spread the method to summon Gobogeg. Of course, all they state in their writings is (truthfully) that Gobogeg is a source of ultimate power. They do not record what Gobogeg’s purpose is, or the price it exacts for failure. Although Gobogeg does not yet fully exist, its potential can act through dreams of suitable arcane candidates. The resulting nightmares are taxing to the victim's sanity, eventually driving most to serve Gobogeg without understanding why. In this way, Gobogeg is more of a magical effect than a distinct entity.